NASCAR: Team Penske avoids Kyle Busch problem

Within a week, Team Penske extended the contracts of both Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, keeping them with their NASCAR Cup Series team for the foreseeable future.

It’s hard to imagine that there are many teams completely immune to NASCAR Cup Series silly season drama this year, but that is the best way to describe Team Penske and their current driver situation, especially after the last week or so.

Both Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano signed long-term contract extensions with the team to continue driving the #12 Ford and the #22 Ford, respectively, for the next several seasons (exact terms undisclosed).

Blaney had signed a multi-year extension back in 2020 (again, specifics undisclosed), while Logano had signed through 2023 back in 2017.

Rookie Austin Cindric is also set to return to the #2 Ford next year after having signed a multi-year agreement prior to the 2022 season.

It’s a stark contrast to the situation at Joe Gibbs Racing, where Kyle Busch’s future is uncertain due to primary sponsor Mars Wrigley leaving the #18 Toyota at the end of the year.

Busch is the most successful active Cup Series driver, boasting 60 career victories and two championships, yet he may lose his ride at the end of the season due to a lack of sponsorship — even after publicly admitting that he would be willing to take a pay cut to stay with Joe Gibbs Racing for a 16th season.

The Mars Wrigley departure announcement was made shortly after the 2021 season, yet nothing has materialized in terms of new sponsors, and what was once thought to be a promising development recently fell through, effectively setting the team back to square one.

As time goes on, it seems less and less likely that Busch will be back at Joe Gibbs Racing next year.

Team Penske avoided this Busch-like situation, specifically in the case of Logano, back in late May when they announced that longtime primary sponsor Shell-Pennzoil had signed a multi-year contract extension with the organization.

Shell-Pennzoil is set to continue to serve as the primary sponsor of the #22 Ford for the majority of each Cup Series season. The brand has been the primary sponsor of the #22 car since 2011, two years prior to Logano joining the team in 2013.

While an extension wasn’t announced for Logano at the time, a long-term commitment from Shell-Pennzoil made it effectively just a formality for the team to agree to the same for the 32-year-old Middletown, Connecticut native. As for Blaney, he too has the partners in place to continue competing for the organization for years to come.